The music lovers in general, whether they are into jazz or not, are definitely digging this show. The evidence can be seen in the previous four editions or in this year’s case, we can trace it by the result in two previous cities, Medan and Bandung. (Click each city to read our report respectively). The concept of blending many genres (crossover) into jazz provides some kind of atmosphere that can easily be accepted by just about anyone. Further more, this also shows how open jazz is towards other music genres, styles or disciplines, far from the way some people took jazz as a strictly segmented or even old minded. In every edition, the Magnum Filter Urban Jazz Crossover always offers interesting blends between jazz and so many other genres from rock, pop, bossa/Latins, rap/hiphop, ethnics and so on. If last year they made a breakthrough by involving dangdut in, this year they have made another remarkable step by involving Keroncong into the concept. It’s certainly not easy to combine keroncong and jazz, because both has their own patterns, styles or ways of playing. The surprise or unpredictable factor is definitely the thing that’s been awaited by most of this show’s fans. The cooking part might be difficult, yet they can always present it really friendly to anyone’s ears.
They select songs that are familiar to general listeners, either the
evergreens or today’s chart toppers, the lineup selections are
magnificently made by involving legends, cross-genre popular artists and
rising stars and let’s not forget the high-tech stage concept including
the use of advanced multimedias like super-cool hologram that can make artists appear and dissapear, video
mapping, big screens, 150.000 watt of lightings and 60.000 watt of
sound. The stage is also used as an integrated part of the show,
something which was planned carefully by Dji Sam Soe. The brand manager
of Magnum Filter Andre Muljadi even worked over hours
in checking the scene frame by frame. In other word, stage concept plays
a very important part in Urban Jazz Crossover.Speaking of crossover, Andre Muljadi also believes that this could become a new genre that has a place in music lovers’ hearts. Therefore it should be maintained and carried more further, where Urban Jazz Crossover can always be the perfect vehicle for that.
Surabaya audience seemed to be really enthusiastic as shown by their responses. Why not? Everything’s packed into one that can bring full satisfaction to the audience. What’s even amazing is the very friendly ticket price. This year the music director Viky Sianipar, team arrangers/composers Ali Akbar and Raynhard Lewis-Pasaribu and the participating artists worked hand in hand in presenting better concept in terms of song selection, more collaborations and more lively-flowing performance.
The freedom of creativity plays a big deal too in Urban Jazz Crossover, especially in interpreting the theme of Jazz The Way Like It.
To get into that peak, Viky explained after show that while we enjoyed
it for about 3 hours, it actually took long creative process. In each
rehearsal they made many adjustments and changes. What’s great about
this is that the musicians were involved in creating the concept. They
have been giving supports and inputs to one another. So the spirit of
togetherness and feeling like they are working in their own show was
created, thus they breathed fresh air towards the Urban Jazz Crossover
itself. Therefore, eventhough they are touring
with same concepts and repertoire from one city to another, there’s
always a new sensation that makes it different with other place. The
energy and synergy between participating musicians also stands as the
key factor of Urban Jazz Crossover’s success.As stated before, the song selection is also seriously taken into consideration. How rock songs from group such Creed, Maroon 5 or REM can be suited into jazz? Or how the timeless keroncong Bengawan Solo would appear in jazz tune? At this year’s edition, these all came to life.
Why keroncong? That one question appeared at the first Press Conference held 2 days before the show. Viky said, “Why not? Keroncong is one of our own greatest treasure, and it’s rarely crossed with jazz”. That was a big challenge for Viky. He admitted that he underestimated the difficulty at first but later found out that it’s actually not easy at all. He even said that the creation was finally came into sense just a couple of days before the show began. Keroncong should be looked as one-whole package integratedly. “It wouldn’t work if you only deal with the singing voices without looking at the music construction.” he said. “At least there are three elements required in it to make it work…that’s difficult, but I’m happy and satisfied with the result.” he added furthermore.
Now let’s see what was happening in the show. DJ Odotto gave a catchy opening with his turntable before the rising male vocalist Bayu Risa started the hysteria with Michael Jackson’s classic “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”. Blazing percussions of Iwan Wiradz and energetic rapper Kyriz Boogiemen
added up more actions in this first act. Bayu carried on with “Missing”
firstly brought popular by Everything But The Girl to rose the
intensity. Then the soulful lady Millane Fernandez did a
duet with Bayu Risa on KLa Project’s hit, “Tentang Kita”. Appeared in
white dress with mini pieces that showed her beautifull legs on stage,
no doubt, Millane succeeded in raising up the temperature even more with
the bossa version of “My Sacrifice” from Creed. “So, does anybody what
the next song will be?” teased Millane right before she sang EMF’s
“Unbelievable” that tied on the edge by beautiful voice of Intan Soekotjo plus in rocking hip hop by Kyriz Boogiemen. What a fine combination!The hard work of Viky and the team in fitting keroncong into jazz sound was paid in full when Intan Soekotjo sang “Bengawan Solo” beautifully in Urban Jazz Crossover tradition. The Collaboration between Millane, Intan and Kyriz plus solo violin from Didiet worked really well in front.
As usual, Urban Jazz Crossover always features bona-fide rocker in every edition. Andi RIF, Ipank and Achmad Albar are the names who have tasted it, this year the chance is being given to Yukie PAS Band. With Titiek Puspa’s “Mari Kemari”, the natural-born rocker successfully did his first run. He carried on with REM’s “Loosing My Religion” in reggae beat over jazz tunes. In the midst of his performance, the audience became more involved when Yukie and Kyriz asked the audience to provide rhythms with their hands. That was to accompany Yukie’s touch on David Guetta feat Usher’s “Without You”.
Surprise after surprise served on the stage made the crowds trapped in awe. The entertaining collaboration between Andien and popular bassist Barry Likumahuwa brought more flames. The coquettish act of Andien towards Barry while singing “Cinta Ini Membunuhku” made the crowds once again cheered. The brass team added up more tones into this one. Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams ” unexpectedly brought cool by the combination of Andien and Intan. some keroncong twists by Intan blended harmoniously with Andien’s swingy singing. Magically their collaboration created such rich, vibrant colors.
The teasing stage act between Andien and Barry still continued on with Sheila On 7′s “Dan”. The crowds were shocked when Indra Lesmana was spotted appearing through the hologram. Not long after that, the real Indra Lesmana appeared with his melodica and created a thick jazz layers by his presence. The collaboration of Indra, Andien and Barry was truly magnificent.
Time to catch the breath then? No, because next an Indonesian legends which started his popularity in the 80s and made Indonesia proud by his success in many world’s festivals Harvey Malaiholo got his chance. Standing under a classy spotlight, Harvey sang Padi’s “Begitu Indah” in royal swing. As the song is very popular, he turned the Surabaya crowds into one gigantic choir. How happy the crowds were when Harvey sang his own hit “Dia” right after. The flowing salsa plus dancers made this session stood as a lively party. Once again the hologram took part, this time projecting Rieka Roeslan which directly did a lovely duet with Harvey over Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” which won three Grammy Awards this year for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video.
What would happen if Indra Lesmana and Rieka Roslan collaborated without anyone else on stage? That created magic. Together they presented “Soldier of Fortune” in an arrangement that could give goosebumps to anyone in the hall. No need to put any stage effects or even too much lightings for them, because the collaboration itself already stood as something magical. At the end of this song, Rieka and Indra greeted the audience plus words by Indra, stating how proud he was to play again in Surabaya. “I’m very proud to be here, because a lot of great jazz musicians were born and raised in this city. That includes my father Jack Lesmana, Embong Raharjo, Bubi Chen, and so on. There wouldn’t be any jazz in Indonesia if there was no Surabaya” he said. That made the crowds clapped their hands as a way to state how proud they are to live in an important city in Indonesia’s history of jazz.
After Rieka closed her appearance with Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life”, the audience again popped big time when the eagerly awaited Tompi finally came in. “Moves Like Jagger”, the most recent hits from Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera was pinned wonderfully by him accompanied by Barry Likumahuwa, Didiet violin and Kyriz Boogiemen. Tompi’s scatting ability and his way to challenge existing instruments on stage turned out to be an exciting treat. He played with Didiet Violin, trumpeter Brury Effendi and threw funny jokes and melody trading with Barry Likumahuwa brought more entertainment. Tompi even mumbled a little part of “Cukup Sudah”, a famous hit of his friend Glenn Fredly accompanied by Barry’s bass.
Tompi carried on with Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life” in nu-jazz style followed by Java Jive’s “Gerangan Cinta” in a duet with Bayu Risa. At the end of the show, Kyriz Boogiemen introduced the whole band members one by one. Katy Perry’s famous song “Fireworks” became the closing song where all supporting artists climbed back onto the stage and gave a sweet ending to the crowds.
The whole show made everyone happy. “It’s worthed to wait. The show was unbelievable!” said one of the audiences after the show. Some of them were already at the venue 2 hours before the show, but it all paid off fully with how the show went. Just like in previous visited cities, the theme of Jazz The Way You Like It became reality. This is the show which is set to be rich in concept, full with magic and served integratedly by combining lots of factors to bring the spirit of crossover. Targeting the adult music lovers, Dji Sam Soe Magnum Filter, the music director, arrangers, musicians and singers definitely hit the target bullseye. For some it’s the modern way to enjoy jazz, for some others it’s the chance to feel the openness of jazz towards other genres. In a bigger scene, this event once again served one grand party that will not be easy to forget. The music lovers in Surabaya has shown big appreciation by attending and responding to the show, this definitely created such positive energy that made every artists reached their top performance.
Medan, Bandung and Surabaya now has tasted the madness. Two more cities to visit: Semarang (30/6) and Jakarta (13/7). If you’re living in those cities or nearby, we’ll give a simple sentence to you: it’s a crime to miss it!
(http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/magnum-filter-urban-jazz-crossover-2012-surabaya-report/)
